Interisland Travel

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Permalink Reply by Kristine Mitchell on April 3, 2008 at 11:50am

Just two days after Aloha Airlines final flight, we now have another fallout in island airline travel,as ATA abruptly shuts down its Hawaii operations today. Thousands of stranded passengers are scrambling to find one-way tickets back to the mainland, or home to the islands, at prices ranging from about $600 to $1,000 per ticket, one way. ATA blames a sudden loss of its military charter contract with FedEx Corp. for it's sudden demise. In Aloha's case, high fuel costs combined with aggressive fare competition by Mesa's go! inter-island service lead to its downfall. With this latest airline closure, there will be service gap for island travelers, as ATA operated 13 round trip flights to the mainland on peak days. One bright note: Southwest, an ATA partner, will help rebook passengers or offer a refund for unused portions of tickets, if your original tickets were booked through Southwest. Reduced competition in the air travel market to and from Hawaii and between the islands is sure to lead to higher ticket prices. Take advantage of discount internet ticketing sites and book your flights early!